Croatia Industry December 2017

Croatia: Industrial production continues to decline in December

January 29, 2018

Industrial output dropped 2.5% in working-day adjusted terms from the same month last year in December, a sharper contraction from November’s 1.7% drop and marking the worst result in almost three years.

December’s result was dragged down by contractions in the mining and quarrying, and manufacturing sectors. The manufacture of leather products, beverages and textiles recorded particularly sharp falls. Meanwhile, production in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning sector rebounded vigorously.

On a month-on-month basis, industrial production in December expanded 1.6% in seasonally- and working-day adjusted terms, contrasting November’s 1.6% decrease. Annual average growth in industrial production in December decelerated to an over two-year low of 2.0% (November: +3.5% year-on-year).

Croatia Industrial Production Forecast

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists expect industrial production to expand 3.0% in 2018, which is down 0.3 percentage points from last month’s estimate. In 2019, the panel sees industrial production growth decelerating to 3.1%.

Industrial output dropped 1.6% in working-day adjusted terms from the same month last year in November, strongly contrasting October’s 4.3% expansion and marking the worst result in almost three years.
November’s result was dragged down by contractions in the electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning and manufacturing sectors.

The economy gained traction in the third quarter of 2017, supported by a surge in fixed investment and solid household spending, despite the uncertainty still surrounding the restructuring of Croatia’s largest private company, food giant Agrokor.